Circles for Rice Field Day | July 12, 2011 | Eagle Lake, TX

Valley Irrigation Circles for Rice Field Day Announcement

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Location: Eagle Lake, Texas, USA
Time: Registration @ 8:30 a.m.
RSVP: rice@valmont.com or www.CirclesForRice.com or 800-825-668 ext. 3042

Lunch will be provided following the field day presentations.  This field day is open to the public.

Field Location: Kevin Hoffman's field | 1/2 mile west of the intersection of FM950 and FM2614 | near Eagle Lake, TX | GPS  Lat 29 28' 18.71"  Long 96 21' 44.06"

Lunch Location: RiceTec Eagle Lake Facility | 3055 Hwy 3013 | Eagle Lake, TX | GPS  Lat 29 32' 19.49"  Long 96 19' 26.01"

Presentation topics will include:

• Water & Energy Savings
• Rice Seed Characteristics
• Chemigation/Fertigation & Water Application
• Irrigation Management
• Irrigation Equipment & Controls
• Crop Expectations
• Past Results of Project

RSVP to receive a special gift at the field day!  We look forward to seeing you in Texas!

Circles for Rice Field Day | July 12, 2011 | Eagle Lake, TX

Valley Irrigation Circles for Rice Field Day Announcement

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Location: Eagle Lake, Texas, USA
Time: Registration @ 8:30 a.m.
RSVP: rice@valmont.com or www.CirclesForRice.com or 800-825-668 ext. 3042

Lunch will be provided following the field day presentations.  This field day is open to the public.

Field Location: Kevin Hoffman's field | 1/2 mile west of the intersection of FM950 and FM2614 | near Eagle Lake, TX | GPS  Lat 29 28' 18.71"  Long 96 21' 44.06"

Lunch Location: RiceTec Eagle Lake Facility | 3055 Hwy 3013 | Eagle Lake, TX | GPS  Lat 29 32' 19.49"  Long 96 19' 26.01"

Presentation topics will include:

• Water & Energy Savings
• Rice Seed Characteristics
• Chemigation/Fertigation & Water Application
• Irrigation Management
• Irrigation Equipment & Controls
• Crop Expectations
• Past Results of Project

RSVP to receive a special gift at the field day!  We look forward to seeing you in Texas!

Valley VRI Activities

Valley Irrigation has defined a team dedicated to the Variable Rate Irrigation products. This team focuses on several avenues: setting up VRI project fields, uploading prescriptions, making sure that growers and Valley Dealers are on the same page, visiting fields with Zone Control, making sure everything is running, and performing validation tests, among other tasks.

Each week, we will blog about the VRI team’s efforts and their current activities.

Start-up continues for both VRI Speed Control and VRI Zone Control. Past weeks' activities by the VRI team have focused on:

VRI Zone Control validation test

• Validation of performance on VRI Zone Control
• Tests use a grid of cans set in an arc to measure the application depths as the pivot zone passes over the cans
• VRI Zone prescription is written to change the percent depth
  
• Start-up of a Valley corner with VRI Zone Control for off/on control as the center pivot and corner pass over a ditch
  
• Meetings with Valley Dealers to answer questions
  
• Meeting with a USDA-ARS research group on their findings and experience with VRI
  
• Meetings with Valley Dealers and customers considering VRI
• One grower has four crops under the same pivot and is looking for an easier way to change application depths; right now, he reprograms the control panel all of the time

Center pivot moving into rice crop

In the picture on the right, you can see the center pivot moving out of the soybeans into the rice crop.  After some discussion, the grower thinks the Valley VRI Speed Control is what he needs.

Circles for Rice Update | by Jake LaRue

Tillering

The rice around the United States is developing well, stages varying from early tillering to late tillering. As we move into tillering, now is the time to begin the application of nitrogen. The most cost-effective and efficient way is to apply liquid products through the center pivot, such as 28-0-0-5 or 32-0-0. Now is the time to push the nitrogen, applying 25 lbs to 30 lbs of actual N per week for the next four weeks.

Weed control continues to be critical as growers now need to ensure strong tillering to close the canopy and shade out weeds. Recently, one grower applied Newpath and Permit. Scouting needs to be done to confirm if there is a weed problem and to determine the right product for the right weed.

Watering needs to continue at least every other day to wet the root zone. Application depths for those in early tillering should be in the 0.25 inch to 0.35 inch range, and later tillering 0.35 inch to 0.50 inch, if the soil can infiltrate the amount applied every other to every third day.

Water Application | VRI

Sprinkler applicator products used on center pivots are classified into two categories: fixed sprays and rotating sprays. Both types are designed to operate at low pressures to minimize pumping costs. Fixed sprays work best on medium to light soils. Rotating sprays have the largest wetted diameter of all low-pressure sprinklers and work best on heavy type soils or fields with slopes to prevent runoff. Mounting sprinklers below the machine trussing structure is common to reduce water losses due to evaporation and wind drift. Both types of sprays can be used with Valley VRI products.

High water application efficiencies and water distribution uniformity are common place with center pivot sprinkler packages. This allows growers to maximize their crop yields while using less water. To further improve water use, growers are looking to manage their water application based on soil types. A field with soil types varying from sand to clay is a challenge for irrigation management. Apply water based on the sandy type soil and risk over watering the heavy clay soils or apply water based on the clay soils and risk under watering the sandy soils.

The Valley VRI products make it possible to manage each soil type individually. With VRI Speed Control, the machine speed is adjusted to change the water application depth. Using VRI Zone Control, a solenoid actuated hydraulic valve controls sprinkler run time to adjust the application depth. The sprinkler run time is changed by cycling the sprinkler valves on and off. To reduce the sprinkler zone application depth by 50%, the sprinkler valves will cycle the sprinklers so they are running 50% of the time and off 50% of the time.

Circles for Rice Update | by Jake LaRue

This week, I visited the Circles for Rice field near Eagle Lake, Texas, USA, and noted a couple points we all need to be aware of when working with the heavier soils, especially those that may crack.

In the photo below, note how the rice is well into tillering, grass is dying and soil is cracking. These cracks can break the small lateral roots and limit tillering. In this case, the pivot is just coming around and the area will receive 0.30 in (7.5 mm). The soil surface is dry, but the depletions are less than 10% if you dig down about 4 in (12.7 cm).

Cracked soil | Eagle Lake, TX, USA

The picture below illustrates how the rice roots tend to spread more laterally than vertically; the above-ground portion is 9 in (23 cm).

Rice root | Eagle Lake, TX, USA

The image below is the soil moisture data for this area of the field. The blue line indicates a sensor at 3 in (7.5 cm), red at 6 in (15 cm) and black at 9 in (23 cm). The higher the line appears on the graph, the drier the field is.

Soil moisture report | Eagle Lake, TX, USA

 
Watch for weeds, as the best time to kill them is when they are small!